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WINONA LAKE — This week, thousands of local volunteers are donning hair nets and scooping dehydrated food ingredients, all to save the lives of children they have never met.

The second annual Feed My Starving Children Warsaw Mobile Pack is underway. This year’s event is at Grace College and the goal is to pack 1 million Manna Pack rice meals to send to children in poverty-stricken areas around the world.

According to the FMSC website, approximately 6,200 children die each day from starvation around the world. That makes more than 2 million a year. Feed My Starving Children is a faith-based, not-for-profit organization that partners with other organizations worldwide to combat those numbers.

Preparation for a Mobile Pack begins long before the actual event. Though each meal costs less than a quarter, funds must still be raised to cover the ingredients. During a two-hour packing shift, volunteers team up to scoop, bag, weigh, seal and box Manna Pack meals.

Each Manna Pack contains six to 12 meals, depending on the type. Warsaw volunteers are packing Manna Pack Rice, which contains a vitamin-packed chicken powder, a scoop of dehydrated vegetables, a cup of protein-rich soy and a cup of rice, a recognizable ingredient in many cultures.

At the end of each shift, volunteers learn exactly how many meals they packed and how many children that will feed. They then hear the story of a child who was rescued and given Manna Pack Rice and where that child is today.

Work began Wednesday evening, Oct. 14, and will continue through Saturday, Oct. 17.

While 1 million meals may sound daunting, last year’s 5,000 volunteers were able to accomplish just that. Of those meals, 489,888 went to Haiti, 427,680 went to Uganda and 85,536 went to Honduras. this year’s volunteers will find out later exactly where their meals were shipped.

For more information, visit the FMSC website.